Scientific officer – Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact Assessment (MELIA)
(Dakar – Senegal, West and Central Africa)
ICRISAT is seeking applications for the position of Scientific Officer (Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact Assessment), Dakar to serve for the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research in Africa (AICCRA) project based at ICRISAT-WCA. The Scientific Officer will report to the project Coordinator based in Dakar, Senegal.
ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. ICRISAT and its partners help empower those living in the semi-arid tropics, especially smallholder farmers, to overcome poverty, hunger, malnutrition and a degraded environment through more efficient and profitable agriculture. ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and five country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. For more details, see www.icrisat.org.
AICCRA is a 3-year World Bank funded project and led by ICRISAT that envisions increasing access for agriculture research and extension service providers in Africa to knowledge, technologies, and decision-making tools relevant to enhancing the resilience of agriculture and food systems in the face of climate change. The project aims to implement the sub-regional component of AICCRA in WA through building multi-actor partnerships of existing scientific and educational networks and centers in order to achieve outcomes through engaging with individual partners at country level. Specifically, this project will enhance the capacity of national regional public institutions and private firms (e.g., input providers, ICT companies, media) to develop delivery models for climate services and for CSA knowledge, approaches and tools to support effective intra-regional and south-south adoption in various value chains. AICCRA builds on the valuable experience of CCAFS which brings together the world’s best researchers in agricultural science, climate science, environmental and social sciences to identify and address the most important interactions, synergies and trade-offs between climate change and agriculture. CCAFS is structured around four closely inter-linked global research flagships: Climate-smart agricultural practices; Climate information services and climate-informed safety nets; Low-emissions agricultural development; and Policies and institutions for climate-resilient food systems. For more information visit www.ccafs.cgiar.org.
Job description
Under the direct supervision of the project scientific coordinator, the Scientific Officer (Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact Assessment – MELIA) will be instrumental in overseeing the MELIA activities of the project and also responsible for conducting research under the AICCRA climate-smart value chains project in Senegal. The incumbent will also assist other scientists and students in the ongoing activities within various projects in Senegal. In particular, the Scientific Officer will:
- Be in charge of the monitoring and evaluation of the AICCRA-Senegal activities including any other relevant project using the protocols developed for the project;
- Along with the project team and the stakeholders, develop the MELIA strategy for the project in accordance with the M&E frameworks of the donor and the institute.
- Assist in developing research questions and survey instruments for continuous monitoring and assessing the impact of the adoption of climate-smart agriculture options for increasing dry cereal production in Senegal;
- Work with the ICRISAT Digital Agriculture and Youth (DAY) Team to set up the digital data collection process
- Along with the DAY team develop dashboards and reporting tools
- Handle and analyze data to produce high quality scientific papers;
- Build the capacity of field investigators/enumerators in collecting information related to climate-smart value chains and smallholder farmers’ production;
- Synthesize and review technical reports for the AICCRA project;
- Contribute to the fulfillment, in a timely and accurate fashion, of the various mandatory reporting requirements for the ongoing ICRISAT activities in Senegal.
Qualification/competency
- Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics, Economics or in Statistics;
- Excellent knowledge of data management methods and ability to use econometrics Software such as Stata, R and spreadsheets (e.g. Excel, MS Access);
- Good knowledge in digital data collection platforms like MEASURE, ODK, CSPro, etc.;
- Good experience in resilience practices in agriculture, especially in weather and climate information services; climate-smart agriculture; etc.
- Experience in fieldwork and good understanding of value chains and climate-smart agriculture, weather and climate information services and gender research;
- Good proficiency in French is required (and a knowledge in English is desirable);
- 2-3 years’ relevant experience in agricultural economics research and dry cereal value chains;
- Experience and ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams with diverse cultural backgrounds
- Conceptual and report writing skills are highly required;
- Good record of scientific publications is an asset.
Employment conditions
This is a locally recruited staff position with an attractive and competitive salary and benefits package payable in local currency (XOF). The package includes base salary, pension, insurance and children education allowances. The position is for two years, and extendable depending on performance of the incumbent and funding availability.
How to apply
Applicants should apply on or before Wednesday 5th May 2021 with the latest Curriculum Vitae, submission letter and the names and contact information of three referees that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged, however only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Applications should be sent to the following email address Icrisat.Mali@cgiar.org
« ICRISAT is an equal opportunity employer and is especially interested in increasing the participation of women on its staff ».